Consider Rutgers' soon-to-be-conference home filled with observers interested in the goings-on in New Jersey this past week.

That includes Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, who issued a statement on Rutgers' inclusion in his conference starting with the 2014-15 academic year in light of the revelations of player abuse in the men's basketball program.

"While we remain interested in the outcome of Rutgers' review, and will continue to monitor the situation as appropriate, it will have no impact on Rutgers' transition to, or membership in, the Big Ten Conference,” Delany said in a statement released by the conference Friday afternoon.

That was the last sentence in the statement, which read this way:

“The conduct displayed by Mike Rice in the videotapes recently released by ESPN was egregious and unacceptable. Rutgers University has acknowledged that its initial response was insufficient and that more needed to be done. Its review of this matter is ongoing.

"The Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors has been studying issues surrounding institutional control for several months and continues its work in this area.

"In the context of that review, one thing that has become clear is that the hiring, retention and firing of institutional personnel, including coaches, lies solely in the hands of the individual institutions and their boards."